Community Gardener Reports Produce Stolen

Bike theft is common in Kodiak, but locally grown produce is also in high demand. A member of the community garden says she went to tend to her vegetables and found them missing.

The Larch street garden gives residents a chance to grow their own produce in a communal space. Anyone can stake a claim on one of the raised beds for an annual fee.

Pat Lods says she goes to check her bed every other day.

“Somebody just came in and cut my cauliflower. I was waiting to go back and get it in a day or two ‘cause it wasn’t quite big enough, and I went there, and it was gone. And then the other day, a whole bunch of stuff was gone.”

Lods says, if not for the community garden, all she’d be able to grow are flowers on her back patio.

“Well, I’m older. I live in an apartment building. And I don’t have my own property anymore. I used to. I used to grow everything from my freezer. Everything.”

The community garden is an open space. There aren’t any fences or security measures. Instead, gardeners rely on the honor system.

Lods says she’s disappointed.

“It just takes away your faith in people. I don’t know if I’ll do it again next year. I may. I’m quite willing to help somebody and, in fact, if whoever was taking all my things – if they are hungry, I would buy ‘em a plot for next year and teach ‘em how to do it.”

Lods says she doesn’t know who might have stolen her vegetables, but she remembers the same thing happened last year.

Community Garden coordinator, Blythe Brown, says someone has already dropped out of the club for that reason. She says she’s not sure what to do about the stealing, but they’d be happy to give the produce away if someone were to ask.